Channels picks up dropped-off fresh produce from a dozen collection points and delivers it the same day to 50 agencies that help the hungry in central Pennsylvania.

For the third year in a row, the leading donor was the Mechanicsburg Green Team, a school group of fifth-graders that grows gardens in four Mechanicsburg elementary schools.

The Green Teamers donated 539 pounds, followed by Highland Gardens in Lower Allen Twp. at 441 pounds and Aldersgate Church in Hampden Twp. with 170 pounds.

Romanoski said a grant from the Walmart Foundation and Feeding America allowed Channels to recently buy a new dock-height refrigerated truck with a lift gate.

“We have never had a brand new truck,” she said. “It has greatly increased our capacity for handling larger donations. We figure our total poundage for the year will at least double.”

The local Plant a Row program, part of a national effort by the Garden Writers Association, now has collected more than 45,000 pounds of food in 16 years that otherwise would have gone to waste in gardens.

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